ABSTRACT
The legacy of communism is addressed by examining the disintegration of communism in Central European countries, the nature of economic development under central planning and dependence on the Soviet Union, and the extent to which the disintegration of Stalin’s communism created the conditions facilitating the establishment of a viable market economy and democracy. The diversity in evolutionary paths under communism is briefly sketched and discussed from the point of view of inherited obstacles to a smooth transition.
Although communist countries followed similar paths of economic development and have faced in many respects similar problems on the eve of the transition, the institutional evolution from Stalin’s model varied significantly among Central European communist countries. Yet, this diversity did not affect the political transition, as they all established unexpectedly quickly viable democratic institutions.
Measured by the extent of departure from the “original” system’s economic design, the degree of marketization was the highest in Hungary and Poland, moderate in Bulgaria, and the lowest in Czechoslovakia and Romania. This clearly contributed to a fast pace of transition in the most reformed countries under communism, 10but Czechoslovakia’s adherence to orthodox planning did not prevent it from rapidly moving to a market economy.
The legacy of communism is addressed in this paper by taking a broad Took at the evolution of communism, the nature of communist economic development, and the extent to which this evolution created the conditions facilitating or impeding the establishment of a viable market economy and democracy. The diversity in evolutionary paths under communism is briefly sketched and discussed from the point of view of inherited obstacles to a smooth transition. Although communist countries followed similar paths of economic development and have faced in many respects similar problems on the eve of the transition, the institutional evolution from Stalin’s model varied significantly among Central European communist countries. This evolution is reviewed in terms of the impact various developments had on the strength of the state, the rule of law, the autonomy of economic actors (decentralization) and on rights of citizens (sphere of activities beyond the reach of the state, or civil society), and the extent of the private economy. The last section highlights challenges by contrasting the transition to communism with the transition from communism to capitalism.
